Mariners 2013 tentative schedule reflects MLB realignment

Regular Season Opens at Oakland April 1; Home Opener vs. New AL West Foe Houston on April 8

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The Seattle Mariners tentative 2013 regular-season schedule was announced today. It features a new team in the AL West, Interleague Play sprinkled throughout the calendar and the return to Seattle of an old American League opponent now residing in the NL Central.

With the Houston Astros moving to the American League in 2013, the Mariners will welcome a fifth AL West team to the division. The move also gives the American League and the National League 15 teams apiece, guaranteeing Interleague match-ups on every day of the 2013 season.

The Mariners will open the 2013 season at Oakland on Monday, April 1. It will mark the fifth consecutive season Seattle has opened on the road (2009-2013), the fourth consecutive season against the A's. The Mariners Home Opener will be Monday, April 8 vs. the Astros. In all, the season-opening homestand will be 10 games: three vs. Houston, four vs. the Texas Rangers and three vs. the Detroit Tigers.

Seattle will begin Interleague Play on May 7-8, travelling to Pittsburgh for a pair of games vs. the Pirates. The Mariners, matched against the NL Central in 2013, will play a total of 20 Interleague Games over the course of five different months, May through September. Home Interleague opponents will be the San Diego Padres (2 games May 27-28), the Pirates (2 games June 25-26), the Chicago Cubs (3 games, June 28-30) and the Milwaukee Brewers (3 games, August 9-11). It will be the Brewers first trip to Seattle as a member of the National League. The Brewers faced the Mariners in the Kingdome as members of the American League from 1977-1997.

Seattle will travel to San Diego, Cincinnati and St. Louis, in addition to Pittsburgh, for Interleague contests.

With the new alignment of 15 teams in each league, the Mariners will play two series (one home, one road) against each team in the AL East and AL Central. The New York Yankees only trip to Seattle will be for a four-game set the weekend of June 6-9, while the Boston Red Sox only trip to Safeco Field (also a four-gamer) will be July 8-11. The Mariners will play three series at home, and three on the road, against each AL West rival (Houston, Los Angeles, Oakland and Texas).

Seattle is only home for one major holiday in 2013, hosting the Padres on Memorial Day (Monday, May 27) at 1:10.

The busiest months in Safeco Field will be April (16 games) and June (18 games), sandwiching a quiet May that will see the Mariners home for only nine games. All 30 teams, including the Mariners, will have a four-day All-Star Break, July 15-18.

The Mariners have announced home start times, but all Saturday games are listed as TBA pending the national television schedule being finalized. The announced 2013 schedule and start times are tentative and subject to change. The official schedule, with complete home and road start times, will be announced at a later date.

The tentative Mariners schedule, both home and away, is available now on www.mariners.com. The tentative complete MLB schedule is now available on www.mlb.com.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.